In San Francisco, Sweden's Artemis Racing have announced that they are putting their first AC72 back into the builders shed. In an interview published in Sailing Scuttlebutt, CEO Paul Cayard says: 'Sailing against Oracle was a full-scale verification that we needed to make some pretty big changes, and that's what we are doing. We are taking it on. The good news is that we learned this in February and not in July. So we have some time to react. But we need to commit more to foiling. '

Many in the media, write this up as a 'we got it wrong' story. In the AC72's all teams learn from their mistakes, it is part of the development process. Some mistakes are bigger than others - but maybe the opportunity for gain from them, is also relevant.

The reality is that all teams have been in the shed for significant periods of time - and three weeks is substantial, but maybe not that significant. Remember too that the Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin is largely a dead-rubber event, best used for more AC72 racing development, as all boats will go through to the Semi-Final, and the teams have until August before getting their first, and for one, Final Test.

But nevertheless time is fast ebbing in this America's Cup, for all teams and where they are positioned, in terms of development.

Emirates Team New Zealand training with their second AC72, NZL5 on the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland. 1/3/2013

That leaves Oracle Team USA without anyone to line up against for the next three weeks or so. Oracle's second AC72 is due to launch in April, Artemis will launch their second AC72 in early May. Emirates Team NZ is expected to be the last to arrive in San Francisco, on May 23, 2013 and will be sailing their second AC72 that has been tested, developed and raced for three months.

Catch the full interview with Paul Cayard in this edition of Sail-World.

We have another Am-Cam video of Oracle Team USA sailing on San Francisco Bay. Like the first, this shows certain things which will be of interest to AC train-spotters, it seems that the platform flex is reduced, but still significant. What effect that has on sailing and foiling performance depends on your view of how the whole package is supposed to work.

The Womens National Match Racing Championship continues off Westhaven. We have reports from the first day in this edition.

Southern Spars have developed an enviable reputation with reliability in round the world yacht racing. This is certainly one of the reasons as to why Southern were selected as the supplier of one-design masts for the next two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race and the Volvo 65. But Southern added to their reputation in the recently completed Vendee Globe singlehanded non-stop race. In this edition of Sail-World we outline how their EC6 rigging stood up to the test.

Staying with NZ success stories, it is great, but not surprising, to see that Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie have order a new 470 hull from Mackay Boats, who at the last two Olympics have dominated the Medal wins in the two 470 classes, the 49er class, and will no doubt do the same in the 49erFX Women's skiff in 2016. It is notable that one builder, Mackay Boats, is (or will be) the builder of choice in four Olympic classes.

Gotta Love It 7’s crew at full stretch earlier in the JJ Giltanan Trophy in their Zhik sailing kit

Also in this edition 18ft and TP52 forward hand, Ben Gladwell, does a product review of Zhik sailing kit, he used in the recent 18ft JJ Giltinan Series and he is also wearing full Zhik gear on V5, arguably NZ's top TP52. If you are switching to Zhik, or looking to add to your existing kit, this story is a must read, it has links to the various products available. The key issue being to plan your kit and make sure that it all works together. A significant number of top sailors are wearing Zhik including the winning crew in the JJ Giltinan Trophy, and 2012 Olympic Gold Medalists, Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie.

Olympic Silver medalists, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have been covering a lot of sailing ground, from the Sydney to Hobart race, the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff series last week, the Moth Worlds and more . All part of the plan to do as much high performance sailing in other classes and then bring that learning back to the 49er for 2016. We feature their report in this edition of Sail-World.com.

Down Wind Leg

Don Gurteen

At the other end of the scale, another of the classes undergoing a revival in New Zealand is the venerable Z-class, or Zeddie. We have a great report and images on the recent Z-class Nationals sailed in the picturesque Marlborough Sounds. Great to see so many of these now-classic boats sailing, and all so beautifully restored - most better than the original.

Don't forget to catch the report on the OK Invitational at Wakatere, where past World Champions came up against some rookie OK sailors - with some surprising results.

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